IMF chief says euro not in danger

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Wednesday that the euro is not in danger, but warned that the eurozone risked posting very slow growth if it failed to pull itself together.

"I don't believe that the euro is in danger," Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, told a public forum organised by the United Nations in Geneva.

"On the other hand, I think that if the eurozone does not pull itself together quickly enough, it would risk having periods of very slow, difficult growth, that it could avoid on condition that its governance is greatly improved."

Pascal Lamy, director-general of the World Trade Organization, noted that at the moment "there is one place on this planet where we are talking about restrictions, and that's Europe."

He explained that the region is suffering from a budgetary problem as it is unable to finance its social model as its workforce ages.

Reforms were necessary to help Europe adjust, but "these reforms are politically difficult."

In order "for this population to continue to benefit from this system would require either immigration or change," Lamy added.